The present invention relates generally to handheld or portable devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to handheld, patient advisory devices that facilitate monitoring of a patient's brain state.
Handheld devices have become an increasingly popular method for an individual to receive and/or transmit information with other individuals or other devices. Cellular phones, personal digital assistants, MP3 players, etc. are common examples of handheld devices being used today. Handheld devices allow for input from the user and output to the user. Input from the user can be in the form of button activations, text typed on a keyboard or a recorded voice memo, and outputs can include audio from an incoming phone call, an email alert, a notification that the device's battery power is low, etc.
Implantable medical devices can be used to monitor biological signals from a patient and transmit the signals to a device external to the patient. For example, both U.S. Pat. No. 3,863,625 to Viglione et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,464 to Piccone et al. describe epileptic seizure warning system which purportedly provide a warning to the patient of an imminent seizure. Both Viglione and Piccone refer to a two-state system in which the output to the patient is either a “warning” state or a “no warning” state. When simple warning systems such as those described in Viglione and Piccone are not sending a warning to the patient (“no warning”), the patient has no idea for how long the “no warning” period will continue, nor does the patient know if the system is receiving signals that are of a known class. In fact, a “warning” could occur at any time, at which point the patient would have to quickly respond, if the patient has a sufficient amount of time to do so. Neither Viglione nor Piccone describe a system that can provide information to patients about when they are not likely to have a seizure (as opposed to when they are likely to have a seizure)—which is an invaluable type of information.
What is needed is a mobile device adapted to alert the patient of their brain state so as to be able to indicate an occurring or impending neurological event, as well as to be able to alert the patient when such an event is unlikely to occur or will not occur. In addition, the alerts should be easy to understand so that a patient can decipher if immediate precautionary action must be taken.
As the device should be adapted to continuously alert the patient of their neurological status, the device should also continuously monitor system components and alert the patient of the status of system components.